Agricultural News

BQA Program Continues to Benefit, Improve US Beef Industry as More Producers Commit to Quality

Thu, 02 May 2019 10:04:12 CDT

Established nearly 30 years ago, the Beef Quality Assurance program, was the beef industry’s answer in addressing quality concerns present at that time. Initially, the program was meant to educate producers on best practices relevant in cattle handling for the purpose of reducing the incidents of injection site lesions when administering vaccinations. Today, thanks to an undisputed record of measurable success, the program continues and has evolved with the industry over the years to address other areas within modern beef production where further improvements can be made, such as cattle health, biosecurity and transportation.

Chase DeCoite, director of the BQA program for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, sat down recently with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays to talk about the BQA and its continued success.

According to DeCoite, the beef industry has made significant improvements to the quality of the product it delivers to end consumers. He asserts that the BQA program and producers’ commitment to adhere to its principles and mission are direct drivers of that continued positive improvement. He knows this because of the Beef Quality Audit that is conducted every five years to measure how well the industry is performing, where improvements have been made in production and identifying what areas might need more attention.

Producers are able to become BQA certified in a number of ways. The program offers several in-person trainings through a wide network of BQA trainers, or producers can take advantage of an on-line platform launched two years ago which has already certified over 50,000 producers. (Click here to learn more about how you can receive your BQA Certification.)

“It’s really a total cattle management program because we’ve learned that from the way you handle your cattle to how you use those cattle health products and the records you keep, can improve meat quality,” DeCoite said. “It’s very impressive how the industry has really wrapped its arms around BQA and adopted those practices.”

DeCoite says it is not just for producers either - consumers appreciate the program too because it instills in them confidence toward US beef.

Most recently, the last audit conducted identified transportation as an area in need of improvement. DeCoite says the industry has responded to that, taking the proactive initiate to address it. He says he looks forward to the next audit to see how the industry has progressed in that respect.

You can listen to their complete conversation over the success of the BQA program, on today’s Beef Buzz.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.

You can listen to their complete conversation over the success of the BQA program, on today's show.